Top 10 Angels and Demons

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We select the very best of Heaven and Hell.

By Christopher Monfette

With Angels & Demons, the sequel to the much-hyped The Da Vinci Code, hitting theaters later this week, we here at IGN couldn't help but think about some of our very favorite ethereal bad-guys and heaven-sent heroes. Whether from above or below, Hollywood has given us a wealth of angels, fallen or otherwise, to terrify and redeem audiences across the globe. From corrupt angels and soft-hearted demons to straightforward pitchfork-wielding devils and golden-winged seraphim, there's no shortage of otherworldly cinematic icons from which to draw. And while Tom Hanks might not be battling actual demons with the help of actual angels, many a protagonist have.

So pick up your pentagrams or carry your crosses and join us as we move Heaven and Hell to uncover the all-time Top 10 Angels and Demons.

We kick off our list with the five greatest members of the demonic horde. It's unclear whether any of these disfigured devils ever crossed paths on their journeys through the fiery hallways of Hell, but we'd hate to see them unite in battle against us here on Earth. A kind of Justice League of the tortured and damned…

Take a poll at any local movie theater and chances are good that a majority of moviegoers would answer that Linda Blair in The Exorcist had been possessed by the Devil. Not so, says cinematic and Babylonia mythology, which both claim that Pazuzu, King of the Wind Demons, was somehow the offending spirit. Pazuzu appears in the original novel for The Exorcist and is non-specifically featured in the film's opening salvo in the desert, but the creature isn't actually named in the franchise until the sequel. Despite having a name that could essentially sink a franchise, Pazuzu still ranks amongst the most bad-ass demons in movie history, so long as you don't count anything other than the original Exorcist against him. But why it couldn't just be the Devil is way beyond our ability to comprehend. Maybe if Lucifer had known that The Exorcist would be such a classic, he would have come himself. Bad Pazuzu! Hogging the spotlight like that...

OK, Cenobite or no Cenobite, let's just call a demon a demon, shall we? He comes from Hell; he looks sufficiently messed up; and he causes people insufferable pain. By any definition of the word, that's a demon, folks. Clive Barker created in Pinhead what may well have been the very reinvention of the demonic, injecting new life – both visual and thematic – into the concept of the red-skinned devil with hooves and horns. Summoned into this world through a seemingly innocuous puzzle box, Pinhead and his merry band of lacerated, vivisected followers appear to those in search of unmatched sensation (like curious scientists unaware of the human limits of pain) and provide that sensation in overwhelming amounts. Pleasure and pain, intermingled, one and the same, forever. And if you want to escape from that dreary Otherwold, all it takes is a little blood and a minor willingness to give up your skin.

When artist and writer Mike Mignola first created Hellboy, the concept of the demonic hero – as begrudging and sarcastic a hero as he was – had hardly been established in the mainstream. And while Hellboy certainly doesn't act like an evil demon should, he certainly looks the part. Tall and bulky with crimson flesh and the nubs of what once had been long, piercing horns, Hellboy looks the most like a traditional demon of almost anything included on this list, but it was his human-like heart that made him different. After a number of battles against popular folklore and mystic occult foes, the character was finally made famous on-screen by writer-director Guillermo del Toro who cast the creature – perhaps perfectly – with actor Ron Perlman. Possessing only brute strength and power, Hellboy has frequently battled against the hellish forces of his own creation and struggled to strike a balance between his nature and his humanity… and hopefully will continue to do so for some time.

Generally, when anybody asks if you're a god, you say "yes," but not if it precludes you from being on IGN's list of the Top 10 Angels and Demons. Admittedly, geekily, we understand that Ghostbusters' Gozer the Gozerian is technically a Sumerian god, but for all intents and purposes he/she/it (depending on the form it takes) will qualify here as a demon. While Peter, Ray, Egon and Winston made that particular demonic chick into ectoplasmic toast, you gotta give Gozer style points for showing up in our universe as a 1980s lesbian glam queen. Also, its weapon of mass destruction had absolutely no objection to manifesting as a two-hundred foot tall walking marshmallow man. That's one classy demon. Nor has Gozer made any fuss about being followed up by perhaps the lamest villain this side of 16th Century Euro-trash.

Lord of Darkness (Legend)

Apparently, Tim Curry's the kind of guy who looks better in make-up than out of it because his most notable characters are commonly caked in the stuff. Case in point, Legend's Lord of Darkness. Visually speaking, think the bad version of Hellboy. Massive, evil, not a fan of sunlight and could probably kick the ever-living crap out of Pennywise. Before Tom Cruise was Tom Cruise or Ridley Scott was Ridley Scott, they were just two dudes who made a cult-favorite fantasy flick that hasn't necessarily aged well. But, damn, if Darkness isn't still sufficiently scary to put some of these other demons in their place. Maybe it's the horns… or the voice… or perhaps it's just the name. Lord of Darkness. It's a got a ring, don't it? Either way, he's a badass demon who doesn't like unicorns. Unicorns, people! That's practically shorthand for Satan…